Day 37: Isn’t the desert supposed to be flat?

Ml. 622-642: 20 miles
In my mind the desert is flat… Not anymore… The Mojave taught me a lesson. Well at least this part of the Mojave. Flat? Girl forget about it! Cacti? Ai! Joshua trees? Ai! Sand? Ai! Hot? Ai!!! Flat? Nooo girl noooo NOT AT ALL!!!!
I wake up at 5 am, it’s getting light already. Damn we’re too late to get going at first daylight. We still see the most gorgeous sunrise when we start hiking. Those mornings and evenings in the desert? O baby! Breathtaking!
After 9 miles a 1500 feet climb awaits us. Let’s get that over with before lunch, before it’s too hot, before we look like boiled lobsters. We get up by 11:30 am. Grandma lunchtime. While I hike I suddenly think of a friend of mine. She died of cancer when she was 18. It’s so unfair she couldn’t live longer, do things like this. Last time I saw her was a week before I moved to Berlin at the age of 19. She was still smiling but her body was fading away under the white blanket that covered her legs. I said goodbye to her, saying I’d send her postcards and then come back to visit in spring. I left and she died 4 weeks later. I wave at the sky, that hot desert sky. Maybe she watches over me and laughs, shaking her head ‘Girl, what are you doing?’ I’m hiking the PCT, the pacific crest trail. And then I repeat it out loud the Pacific Crest Trail. I am so blessed, I am so lucky, I am alive! I’ve been given this life! It’s so precious. And I’m hiking from Mexico to Canada. Oh I’m sure she is laughing up there, as is my grandma (well she is definitely shaking her head, that’s for sure), and my grandfather and all the people that left too early.
While we hide from the sun the Ravens pass by. A family of 4 hiking the trail. Well isn’t that awesome. Little crow is 9 and Hunter (well that’s what I call him) is 13. They frikkin rock. They are so alive, have wild kids eyes. I love kids like that!!!
Some clouds cover the sun so we hike a few more miles till we reach the dirtroad that leads to our cache. Headquarters and Morningstar hike down 1000ft and back up 1000 ft to get the water, the coke and the beer. 5 more miles to go. The desert becomes forest again. Crazy world crazy world! It’s time to go to sleep. The moon is shining bright already!